“Uh ha!” Dean called out loudly, causing Ellen to scream.
“What!” She grabbed her chest. “You scared me.”
“What the hell, El!” he yelled at her. “You didn’t give me the tape.”
“Sorry.”
“I’m listening to this and it’s driving me nuts. You ramble, you scream ... and what did it end up being that caused you to think you came up with the combination that effectively reigns over our host virus?”
“Huh?”
“It was an error right? I mean you misread the results.”
“No I didn’t,” Ellen said
“You didn’t misread them?” Dean questioned.
“Nope.”
“You got it up to eighty-three percent?”
Ellen hesitated before answering, “Yes.”
Dean was quiet for a second, then his voice rose to the highest of levels, “Ellen!”
“What?” She jumped back.
“Why am I only hearing about this now, if you did this three days ago?”
“Well ... I uh ... Dean.” Ellen cleared her throat. “I had a lot of problems in my personal life. See … Henry, he broke up with me, well not actually him breaking up with me. I broke up with him because he broke off the ...”
“Stop!” Dean stood up. “Before I go on, tell me if I’m facing you.”
“Um ...” Ellen moved a little to her right. “OK, now you are.”
“Thank you. Ellen, you single-handedly came up with a more effective antidote?”
“I guess. It was a mistake. See I was singing the ‘Silly’ song while I was mixing up the batch, and I screwed up, which was very easy to do, Dean. The names were so similar. So I ...”
“Why didn’t you tell me this? This is great news.”
“It is isn’t it?” Ellen grinned. “I was going to tell you.”
“Did you forget about it? You had to have forgotten about it. How, I don’t know, it’s a really big thing.”
“I kind of did and I kind of didn’t. See I had a plan.”
“Which was?”
Ellen hem-hawed about, “I was gonna have you mix the batch, you know, tell you it was a lesson and then tell you that you put in the wrong ingredient which was actually the right ingredient and let you be the one to have the credit.”
“W-why would you do that?” Dean was stunned.
“I love you, Dean. I’d rather everyone think you did it on purpose rather than me doing it by accident. Besides, this batch will deserve a lot of credit and if it gets out that I was the one, it wouldn’t get the credit it deserves. Trust me.”
“Well, you will get the credit. I’m proud of you.” Dean reached out his hand and hit air. “I thought you said I was facing you?”
“I lied. I didn’t want you mad at me and flicking me or anything.”
“Ellen.” Dean shook his head and felt around slowly until he touched her. “Excellent job.” He stepped to her and kissed her. “Now ... let’s talk about this.”
“OK, let me get my lab coat.”
“Why do you need your lab coat? We’re only talking.”
“So I can feel like a scientist.”
“No.” Dean shook his head. “We’re just gonna talk. I need to be updated.”
“OK.”
Dean stepped back, feeling for his chair, and sat down. “Wanna sit?”
“Yeah, sure.” Ellen pulled up a chair.
Dean waited until he heard the silence of her shuffling about. “All right, you tested the new batch on the rabbits?”
“Yes.”
“And?” Dean waited for more. “I need an ‘and’ because there is nothing further about it on the tape. Is it on the next day’s?”
“No.”
“OK.” Dean tried to remain calm. “So I’m taking it that it really didn’t work.”
“Oh it worked.”
“On the rabbits?” Dean spoke as if he were speaking to a child, or explaining something to Frank.
“Yes.”
“And?”
“You know how our Agent Seventeen made them worse before it started working? Well, that didn’t happen with the new batch. Nothing adverse happened at all within the first two hours.”
“What happened after the first two hours?”
Ellen shrugged.
“El?”
“I answered you.”
“No you didn’t.”
“Yes I did. I shrugged.”
“I’m blind, El. You have to be verbal. So you don’t know?”
“No.”
“Why don’t you know?”
“See I uh ... I uh ...”
“We’ll try something different, El. When did the rabbits show signs of improvement?”
“I don’t know.” Ellen held up her finger. “But they were better the next day.”
“Why don’t you know any of this, El? You created a new batch, you injected it into the rabbits. Where did you get lost?”
“I didn’t. I left.”
“You left?” Dean asked.
“Yes.”
“Why would you leave in the middle of a new batch?”
“Dean,” Ellen gasped. “I had to try on my wedding dress. Of course now that was an obsolete move. Prick Henry.”
Dean grunted. “Ellen, now I am going to assume you mixed up more, right.”
“Wrong. I really couldn’t do that. It would defeat the whole purpose of making it out to look like you did it instead of me if I created an entire batch. Geez, Dean, think about that.”
“Ellen, if you didn’t mix up more, then how do you know that you pinpointed where your error was and that you could actually recreate it?”
“I don’t.”
Dean closed his eyes and brought his hands to his head.
“What’s wrong? Do you have a headache? I wonder if it’s your sinuses because my head has been bothering ...” She slowed her words when she watched Dean lower his hands and sway his head her way. “Sorry, I just have all this talking that needs to get out.”
“Let’s go.” Dean’s hands fell to the tops of his thighs with a slap.
“Where?”
“We’re gonna make another batch. Then you’re going to describe to me everything you’re doing while you’re doing it. We’ll run the analysis, you’ll describe that, then we’ll inject the rabbits and you’ll describe that.”
“Dean, that’s gonna take an awfully long time. We have to pick the kids up at four, and I have to get dinner ready because I have that meeting tonight that I don’t want to miss.”
“Tough. We’ll call Joe to get the kids.”
“It’ll take eight hours to do all of this, Dean. If we start right now, I won’t get home until seven. I have to shower and do my hair. I have a date with Forrest after my meeting.”
“Go dirty, I don’t care. We have work.” Dean moved to the cabinet where they kept the ingredients.
“We can do it tomorrow.”
“No.”
“We’ll have all day.”
“No.”
“We needed to start sooner.”
“So we’ll start now.” He opened the cabinet.
“Please, Dean?”
“No!”
“Dick.”
“Ellen.” He flung open the right side of the cabinet. “This is important. The more you whine, the longer it’ll take for us to get started. Let’s go.”
Ellen rolled her eyes and joined him at the cabinet. “You know Frank was right yesterday when he was talking about you and your work.”
“Yeah well, Frank is always right. He’s a God.”
Ellen snickered as she pulled two bottles out of the cabinet. “Glad to hear you finally recognized that, Dean.” She laughed harder at his grunt. “Just ... no, Dean, wrong bottle.”
Dean released the bottle he gripped. “Sorry. Where is it?”
“Oh you had it. I was kidding you.”
“Ellen.” He re-grabbed the bottle. “Keep it up and I’m calling Henry
to be here while we work.”
Silence.
“Ellen?”
“Oh, I’m not saying a word. I don’t want Henry here.”
Dean smiled. “That’s what I thought.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Ellen really hoped that all the dip wasn’t gone by the time she got to the meeting. Trotting off at a quick pace to Jenny’s, carrying a little pouch in her hand, she arrived, hungry from the lack of dinner, and a half an hour late. She knocked on the door to announce her arrival then walked in. “Sorry I’m late. Dean had me working.”
All the women in the room turned upon her entrance.
Jenny stood from her seat next to Trish on the couch. “We were waiting, no problem.” She walked toward Ellen. “Have a seat.”
“I brought my supplies.” Ellen held up her bag. “I didn’t get a chance to make a finger food. Don’t be mad.”
“Oh.” Jenny waved her hand. “We all know what you’re working on up there is important.”
Ellen stepped over the extended legs of Bev and took the spot on the couch between her and Trish. Ellen shuffled in her seat. She looked to see if Bev was taking too much room, maybe not as close to the arm of the sofa as she should be, but Bev was pressed against it. “Am I getting fat? How did Jenny fit here?” Ellen asked, trying to fit in the spot. “What’s wrong with this ...” She looked to see if Trish was against the arm, but she couldn’t see the arm of the sofa over Trish’s pregnant stomach. “God, Trish, you’re getting huge.”
Trish opened her mouth in a gasp.
“Aren’t you overdue?” Ellen asked her as she reached for some dip. “Drop that kid so we can get the betting ...”
“Ellen.” Trish quickly removed the dip from Ellen’s reach when she saw Ellen was eating the dip she had made. “I’m having a large child and it will be born when it’s ready. I’m not even due yet.”
“Not yet?” Ellen’s cheeks puffed out when she filled them with the air she slowly let out. “God, you’ll explode if you carry it any longer. You should talk to Dean about taking it out. Wait, maybe not Dean right now. Andrea will do it.”
Jenny cleared her throat to get everyone’s attention. “We should be starting, Ellen.” She held her index finger to her own lips. “OK. We’ll get the meeting portion over with because our activity will take some time tonight. First.” Jenny took on a somber look. “I speak for all of us, Ellen, when I say how sorry we are that Henry did this to you. I also speak for all of us when I say it was a dick move.” Applause filled the room. “We’re all pissed at him, Ellen, all of us. We all put in stupid requisitions this week, lots of them, just to annoy him.”
This pleased Ellen and the smile on her face showed it. “Thank you for that.”
“Oh sure.” Jenny waved her hand. “Now I’ve been talking to a few of you and I’d like a show of hands on this one. I think since we have worked so hard on the food list, got the OK from Distribution for supplies, been creating decorations, I think that we should still have our party. But instead of it being a celebration of love, it will be a celebration of life. Reverend Bob said he’ll have a special service at the church, and then we’ll go over to the Social Hall for refreshments and entertainment. Paul will still D.J. and we’ll have a great party. We’ll save the gowns for another wedding. I’m sure they can be taken in and such. They’ll be used ... someday whenever an unattached female gets here or Ellen decides to marry someone else. Show of hands.” It was a unanimous vote. “Good. A little bit of advice please; those who think they may have problems with their partners for who they’ll be with for the party, you might want to consider time slots.”
The women in the room nodded at each other at such the brilliancy of Jenny’s suggestion.
“Continuing. Is there anyone who has anything they need to bring up tonight?” Jenny announced and saw Ellen raise her hand. “Yes, Ellen?”
“OK.” Ellen stood up—something she knew she’d regret doing when it came time to sit back down. “As you know, Robbie Slagel gave me Blake Steward as a gift last year. I’ve made no bones about the fact that he’s mine, even though Joe insists it’s not right to claim people as their own. Blake likes it though. He’s not really that smart. Anyhow ... I feel that it’s time to give him up and seeing how Blake likes the ownership factor ...” Ellen hesitated and then spoke rapidly, “I’m putting him on the auction block. He goes to the highest bidder.” Silence, dead silence. ‘Oh God, they’re gonna start throwing things at me,’ Ellen thought.
Cindy raised her hand. “What do you mean—highest bidder. You’ll take bribes?”
Hunching her shoulders and thinking of ways to kill Danny, Ellen hesitated. “Yes.”
Another woman lifted her hand to ask a question. “Then he’s ours to do with what we want? That gorgeous guy would be ours?”
Before Ellen answered, Jenny put in a comment, “Do work hours and such count? Babysitting and so forth?”
Ellen nodded.
Jenny clapped her hands. “Oh, this could be fun.” She ran over and got some paper. “We have to establish rules.”
A sigh of relief is what Ellen let out. “Really? You guys want to do this?”
“Oh sure,” Jenny said. “I want Blake,” she snickered. “I’ll keep him on the side for viewing purposes.” She shivered. “I love his body. OK, Ellen, we need time. Ladies, why don’t we put a bid date on for Wednesday, August fifth?” She waited for agreement. “Then Ellen can announce her winner on that Friday. Ellen, is that all right?”
“Um ... yes ... that’ll work.”
Jenny held up her pen. “We have to write the bids down. It’ll secure it so we don’t fail to pay up. And it will lessen the confusion on what we bid. Ellen, can we change our bids if we want?”
Trish shook her head. “That’s not really fair. What if I bid something good and you find out, Jenny. I think it should go the same as construction bids go, sealed. And Ellen can’t say who bid what.”
Jenny hesitated in disagreement. “But don’t you think it’ll make it more of a competition game? After all, when there used to be auctions everyone had a chance to outbid the other.” She waited for Trish’s nod. “All right, is there anyone here who doesn’t want to participate?” No one raised their hands. “Then let the auction begin.”
Ellen sat pleased—uncomfortable, but pleased—she would have to tell Danny how well things went.
Jenny continued on, “Next up, we have ...” Jenny stopped talking when there was a knock on the door. “That should be Forrest.” She walked over to the door and opened it. “Forrest!” She led him in. “We’re just about finished. You can have a seat in the dining room while we finish up.”
“Uh woo do that, Jen-nay.” As he moved through the living room, he winked at Ellen.
Ellen’s eyes widened, and she slid in to hide closer to Trish’s pregnant body. “Oh my God.”
Jenny looked at her. “What was that?”
“Nothing.” Ellen shook her head. “Finish up. I want to start our project.”
“I’ll do that. OK, I will announce the winners for next week’s dartboard competition game.” She saw the enthusiastic anticipation on the faces of the women who awaited her announcement. “Bill from Armory wins for telling Bev she looked absolutely stupid in her flat shoes. And ... Dean for being so mean to Ellen. Ellen, you can change your mind now if you want.”
“Nah.” Ellen shook her head. “Even though he’s blind now, he wasn’t when he was mean. Keep him on the board.”
“Good.” Jenny set down her paper and pencil. “Then we can begin. Did everyone bring their stuff?” There was a unison of excited ‘yeses’. “Then let’s begin. I’ll let Forrest take it while I go get the softening wax. Forrest? Forrest.”
Forrest waddled his way into the living room. “Uh wuss en-joy-yang de dup. Et wuss good.” He smiled, aiming it at Ellen. When Jenny slipped from the room, he continued, “Uh um going ta enjoy shoe-ing ma no-ledge wit all ef you. Uh will start bay hopping you un-da-s
tund where et all begun.” Forrest seemed so excited as he was about to tell his tale. “Et es a rit-u-el ef de tribes ef Africa. De Voodoo doll wuss yessed a-gins de en-a-me to bring hem don. Woot you will use de voodoo for es for fin. Et well newt wok Sue donut dink et well.” Forrest chuckled at the disappointment on the women’s faces. “Et es de be-lif dat de personnel items on de doll es what mucks et magic. You well ned three items from de object of your voodoo. You well ned hair, cloth of dem, und a item dat day tooch quit a bit. Do we huff dis items?” He raised his eyebrows to everyone to see them nod. “Ah-rut.” Forrest clapped his hands together once. “Uh see dat Jen-nay hes de wicks on de ta-bell. We well shup et onto de firm of de mall dat you want to voodoo and a-touch de personnel items to et. Shall we?” He pointed his hand toward the dining room, and the line of enthusiastic women headed there. “Donut war-re, uh well hop you wit de firming of de wicks. Uh em quit goo dat et.” He pulled Ellen back as she passed him. “El-loon, uh em quit goo dat o-there dings es well,” he whispered in her ear.
Ellen swallowed. Not only did a twinge of nervousness hit her but so did a twinge of nausea too. She shuffled quickly with a fake chuckle, from Forrest. She stared into the wax, holding her little pouch.
“Henry?” Trish whispered at Ellen.
“Huh?” Ellen looked back at her. “What about him?”
“Is that who your voodoo doll is going to be?”
“Oh no, that wouldn’t be fun,” Ellen told her. “Mine is going to be Frank. Hell, I spent yesterday sewing an old tee shirt of his into Frank-clothes. And ... I was so glad that he trimmed his goatee last night. I have a bunch of little hairs that I’m going to use too.” She opened her pouch and showed Trish. “I really hope he gives us that spell that goes on the dolls. I really want this to work.” Through the corner of her eyes, during her conversation, Ellen saw Forrest heading her way. With quick thinking, and dreading making that date, she stood closer to Trish, trying her hardest to hide behind her protruding pregnant stomach.
<><><><>
Total body exhaustion, is what Henry looked like he was suffering from when he plopped into the chair next to the couch in Frank’s house. He held a bottle of his homemade wine from which he proceeded to drink. “What a night.”
Blink of an Eye: Beginnings Series Book 8 Page 26